ISSN 0025-6544, Mechanics of Solids, 2012, Vol. 47, No. 5, pp. 491–497.


c Allerton Press, Inc., 2012.
Original Russian Text 
c G.A. Volkov, N.A. Gorbushin, Yu.V. Petrov, 2012, published in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Mekhanika Tverdogo Tela, 2012, No. 5, pp. 6–13.

On the Dependence of the Threshold Energy

of Small Erodent Particles on Their Geometry in Erosion Fracture
G. A. Volkov, N. A. Gorbushin* , and Yu. V. Petrov**
St. Petersburg State University, Research Center of Dynamics,
Universitetskiy pr-t 28, Petergof, St. Petersburg, 198504 Russia
Received May 15, 2012

Abstract—The structural-temporal approach and the incubation time criterion are used to study
the threshold energy necessary to initiate erosion fracture of a material surface. The behavior of the
energy threshold values depending on the indentor geometry (ball, cylinder, and body of revolution)
is analyzed. The graphs of threshold energy versus impact pulse duration and radius are drawn. The
difference in the behavior of energy for small particles in these cases is established.
DOI: 10.3103/S0025654412050019
Keywords: fracture, erosion, incubation time criterion, threshold energy.

1. INTRODUCTION
Erosion processes play an important role in practical applications. Nowadays, processes based on
shock actions such as vibratory metal cutting, vibratory grinding of various materials, rock destruction,
etc. are widely used in industry. In these processes, the dynamic interaction of an operating tool with the
material surface results in material fracture.
It should be noted that erosion fracture is characterized by short impact pulses, which necessitates
studying the applicability of various fracture criteria describing the process. The classical critical stress
or critical viscosity fracture criteria turn out to be unsuitable and cannot explain several important effects
in the erosion process caused by the short-time pulse character of the original unit action.

2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The normal impact of a rigid body on the surface of a deformable half-space is considered. It is
assumed that the impact is elastic, and the heat release under impact is neglected. It is also assumed that
the impact is quasistatic, which allows one to use the solution of the problem of static penetration of a
rigid punch in an elastic half-space [10, 11]. Thus, the problem will be considered by analogy with [8, 12].
The following geometric shapes of the punch are considered: a ball, a cylinder, and a body whose
surface in cylindrical coordinates is given by the equation z = Ar 4 , 0 ≤ r ≤ R. The last shape is rather
interesting, because it is intermediate between the other two shapes. It is assumed that all bodies have
the same mass m equal to the mass of the ball. It should be noted that, in the case under study, the
problem is axisymmetric and the contact region is a circle of radius a(t), which in the cylindrical case is
constant and equal to the radius of the base of the cylinder [10, 11].
It is of interest to study how the threshold energy of a particle depends on the chosen geometry.
The threshold energy is understood as the minimum kinetic energy of a particle necessary to induce
half-space fracture. The notion of threshold speed of the erodent particle, which must be treated as the
minimum value of this quantity necessary to initiate material fracture, is also used. The dependence of
the threshold speed and the critical load was also considered in the cylindrical and spherical cases in [8].
*
e-mail: gorbushinnikolay@gmail.com
**
e-mail: yp@yp1004.spb.edu

491
492 VOLKOV et al.

The threshold characteristics of material fracture are determined by using the structural-temporal
criterion in the form [7–9]
t
1
max σ(R, V, s) ds = σcr , (2.1)
τ t
t−τ

where R is the punch radius, V is its initial speed on impact, σcr is the static tensile strength of the
material, and τ is the fracture incubation time. In the present paper, the stress σ is understood as the
maximum tensile stress arising in the half-space on impact, because, as a rule, it is this stress that
causes the original fracture of the material. The quantity σcr is a material constant and can be determined
experimentally. The incubation time τ characterizes the time of medium preparation to fracture or phase
transition and is a material constant as well. The incubation time is determined experimentally or
numerically-experimentally. In [1–9], various interpretations of the incubation time are given depending
on the types of the medium and the problem under study. In [8], the threshold rates of erosion fracture
were studied, and the values of the parameter τ were calculated for several materials.
To determine the threshold energy, one should reduce the required parameters to dimensionless form,
t0 R V
λ= , R̃ = , Ṽ = , (2.2)
τ cp τ cp
where t0 is the impact duration, cp is the speed of the longitudinal wave propagation in the material,

E(1 − ν)
cp = ,
ρ̃(1 + ν)(1 − 2ν)
E is the Young modulus of the half-space, ν is its Poisson ratio, and ρ̃ is its density.

3. THRESHOLD ENERGY OF A SPHERICAL PARTICLE

The best-known version of the two-body contact problem is the Hertz problem of contact between
a rigid ball and an elastic half-space [10]. The dependence of the contact force on the distance between
the bodies approaching each other is determined as follows:
P (t) = kb [h(t)]3/2 , (3.1)
√
where P is the contact force, h is the approach, and kb = 4 RE/[3(1 − ν 2 )]. In the present paper, the
approach is understood as the distance covered by the indentor penetrating into the half-space.
The time dependence of the approach h(t) can be determined by analogy to [8, 12] by solving the
equation of motion
d2 h(t)
m = −P (t). (3.2)
dt2
By integrating Eq. (3.2) once, one can determine the approach speed as

dh(t) 4kb
= V2− [h(t)]5/2 ,
dt 5m
which allows one to find the maximum approach
 2/5
5 2
h0 = mV . (3.3)
4kb
The obtained approach speed allows one to determined the impact time [12],
 2 1/5
h0 m
t0 = 2.94 ≈ 3.2 . (3.4)
V V kb2

MECHANICS OF SOLIDS Vol. 47 No. 5 2012

ON THE DEPENDENCE OF THE THRESHOLD ENERGY OF SMALL ERODENT PARTICLES 493

If the quantities (3.3) and (3.4) are known, then the solution of Eq. (3.2) can be approximated with a
high accuracy by the expression [12]
πt
h(t) = h0 sin . (3.5)
t0
In [10], the values of the principal stresses in the half-space are determined. The tensile stress is the
radial stress (in cylindrical coordinates), which takes the maximum value on the half-space surface at
the boundary points of the contact region,
1 − 2ν P (t)
σ(t) = . (3.6)
2 πa2 (t)
In the case of impact of a ball on a half-space, the contact region is a circle of variable radius a(t)
which depends on time and is determined by the formula [10]
 1/3
3(1 − ν 2 )
a(t) = RP (t) . (3.7)
4E
After the substitution of (3.1), (3.5), and (3.7) into (3.6), the fracture criterion (2.1) becomes
t 
1 − 2ν kb πs
h0 max sin ds = τ σcr . (3.8)
2π R t t0
t−τ

The integral in the expression (3.8) takes the maximum value at time t = 12 (t0 + τ ).
The following dimensionless variables should be introduced:
2/5    4/5
(1 − 2ν)cp 5π 4 1/5 4
αb = E ρ , (3.9)
2πσcr σ 3(1 − ν 2 )
 
2 2/5
4/5 πρ(1 − ν )
βb = 3.2cp . (3.10)
E
The parameter ρ in (3.9) and (3.10) is the density of the punch material.
If the accepted notation (2.2), (3.9), and (3.10) is taken into account, then the fracture criterion under
study can be rewritten as

(λ+1)/2
πs
αb Ṽ 2/5
sin [H(s) − H(s − λ)] ds = 1. (3.11)
λ
(λ−1)/2

Then the radius of the spherical particle is determined as

λṼ 1/5
R̃ = . (3.12)
βb
If the threshold speed (3.11) and radius (3.12) are known, then the threshold energy can be calculated
as
2
W∗ =
πρR3 V 2 . (3.13)
3
In dimensionless form, (3.13) is given by the formula
W∗
W̃ ∗ =
= R̃3 Ṽ 2 , (3.14)
ω
where the parameter ω = 23 πρτ 3 c5p has the dimension of energy.
Thus, the quantity W̃ ∗ determines the minimum dimensionless value of particle energy required for
half-space fracture. Figure 1 presents the graphs of dependence of the energy (3.14) on the impact
duration (Fig. 1 a) and the radius (Fig. 1 b), where the half-space material is zinc and the parameter
takes the value ρ = 3200 kg/m3 .

MECHANICS OF SOLIDS Vol. 47 No. 5 2012

494 VOLKOV et al.

Fig. 1.

4. THRESHOLD ENERGY OF A CYLINDRICAL PARTICLE

In the cylindrical case, the contact force and approach are related as follows [10]:
2RE
P = kc h, kc = . (4.1)
1 − ν2
In the case of impact of a cylinder on a half-space, the equation of motion (3.2) can be solved exactly.
The maximum approach h0 and the impact duration t0 are determined by the relations

mV 2
h0 = , (4.2)
kc

m
t0 = π . (4.3)
kc
The solution of the equation of motion (3.2) in the case of impact of a cylinder has the form
πt
h(t) = h0 sin . (4.4)
t0
In (4.4), the maximum approach h0 and the impact duration t0 are determined by formulas (4.2)
and (4.3), respectively. The maximum tensile stress in the cylindrical case is the radial stress on the
half-space surface at the boundary points of the contact region. This stress is given by the formula [8]
1 − 2ν P (t)
σ(t) = , r → R + 0. (4.5)
2 πR2
If the fracture criterion (2.1) and formulas (4.1), (4.4), and (4.5) are used, then the integral (2.1)
attains its maximum value at t = 12 (t0 + τ ). It follows from the assumption that the cylinder mass is
equal to the ball mass that the cylinder height is equal to H = 4R/3.
The following dimensionless quantities are introduced by analogy with (3.9) and (3.10):
 
(1 − 2ν)cp 8Eρ 2π ρ(1 − ν 2 )
αc = , βc = πcp .
2σcr 3π(1 − ν 2 ) 3 E
Then, just as in the case of impact of a spherical particle (Sec. 3), one obtains equations for the
threshold speed and radius,

(λ+1)/2
πs
αc Ṽ sin [H(s) − H(s − λ)] ds = 1, (4.6)
λ
(λ−1)/2

MECHANICS OF SOLIDS Vol. 47 No. 5 2012

ON THE DEPENDENCE OF THE THRESHOLD ENERGY OF SMALL ERODENT PARTICLES 495

Fig. 2.

λ
R̃ = . (4.7)
βc
The threshold energy in the case of impact of a cylindrical particle is calculated by formula (3.14),
where Ṽ and R̃ are determined by (4.6) and (4.7), respectively. Figure 2 presents the graphs of
dependence of the energy (3.14) on the impact duration (Fig. 2 a) and the radius (Fig. 2 b), where the
half-space material is zinc and the parameter takes the value ρ = 3200 kg/m3 .

5. THRESHOLD FRACTURE ENERGY FOR PARTICLES

WITH CONTACT SURFACE DESCRIBED BY THE EQUATION z = Ar 4
In the case of impact of a body whose surface is described by the equation z = Ar 4 , it is first necessary
to find the maximum stress. As was already noted (Sec. 2), it is assumed that the impact is quasistatic,
and hence the desired stress can be determined by solving the problem of static penetration of a punch
of the same shape into a half-space. The following type of the pressure distribution p(r) in the contact
region is given in [11]:
 2   2
5 r 1 r P
p(r) = + 1− , r ∈ [0, a]. (5.1)
3 a 2 a πa2
If the pressure distribution in the contact region (5.1) is known, then, using the solution of the
Boussinesq problem about a lumped load, one can calculate the stresses in the entire half-space by
analogy with the cases of the ball and cylinder indentation [10]. Straightforward computations show that
the maximum tensile stress is radial and, by analogy with the spherical case, is given by formula (3.6),
where [11]
 
15(1 − ν 2 ) P (t) 1/5
a(t) = , (5.2)
64E A
   
5/4 8E 3 1/4 1 5/4
P (t) = k[h(t)] , k = . (5.3)
1 − ν 2 2A 5
The solution of the equation of motion (3.2) can be approximated as
πt
h(t) = h0 sin , (5.4)
t0
 
9 mV 2 4/9
h0 = , (5.5)
8 k
√
h0 8 π Γ(4/9)
t0 = , (5.6)
V 9 Γ(17/18)

MECHANICS OF SOLIDS Vol. 47 No. 5 2012

496 VOLKOV et al.

Fig. 3.

where Γ(x) is the Euler gamma function.

Since the mass of this body is equal to the mass of the ball, one has
2
A= 3. (5.7)
R
After the substitution of (3.6) and (5.2)–(5.4) into the incubation time criterion (2.1), the integral in
expression (2.1) attains the maximum value at t = 12 (t0 + τ ).
The following dimensionless variables should be introduced:
2/3  2/3  1/3  5  3/2 1/15
(1 − 2ν)cp 8E 3 1 8 3
α= πρ 21/9 , (5.8)
2πσcr 1 − ν2 2 5 15 2
√  4/9
8 π(c2p ρ/E)8/9 Γ(4/9) 5/4 1 − ν
2
β= 5 π 21/9 . (5.9)
9 Γ(17/18) 8
Then, using (3.6) and (5.2)–(5.8), one can obtain the threshold speed from the incubation time
criterion (2.1) as follows:
 
(λ+1)/2 3/4
πs
αṼ 2/3
sin [H(s) − H(s − λ)] ds = 1. (5.10)
λ
(λ−1)/2

Using (5.6) and (5.9), one obtains the following formula for the radius:
λ 1/9
R̃ = Ṽ . (5.11)
β
The expressions (5.10) and (5.11) can be used to determine the expression for the threshold energy
in the form (3.14). Figure 3 presents the graphs of dependence of the threshold energy normalized to its
minimum value on the impact duration (Fig. 3 a) and the radius (Fig. 3 b), where the half-space material
is zinc and the parameter takes the value ρ = 3200 kg/m3 .

6. ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS

Figures 1 and 3 show that in the cases of impact of a ball and a body whose surface is described by the
equation z = Ar 4 , the threshold energy has a local minimum different from zero. In the case of impact of
a cylinder on a half-space (Fig. 2), this effect is not observed.
This difference is related to the fact that, in the cases of a ball and a body whose surface is described
by the equation z = Ar 4 , the contact region is a variable quantity. In the cylindrical case, the contact
region does not change and is determined by the radius of the cylinder.

MECHANICS OF SOLIDS Vol. 47 No. 5 2012

ON THE DEPENDENCE OF THE THRESHOLD ENERGY OF SMALL ERODENT PARTICLES 497

The fact that the energy is zero for the zero impact duration and radius in the cylindrical case (Fig. 2)
can be explained by the fact that the problem of penetration of a cylinder into a half-space is an idealized
problem. When considering small particles, it is impossible to neglect the roundedness of the cylinder
angles near the basis, and this model becomes unsuitable.

7. CONCLUSIONS
In the present paper, the structural-temporal approach and the incubation fracture time criterion
were used to study how the threshold values of the energy necessary to initiate the rapture of an elastic
half-space depend on the geometric shape of the erodent particles. The following geometries of the
contacting particles were considered: a ball, a cylinder, and a body whose surface is described by the
equation z = Ar 4 , 0 ≤ r ≤ R, in cylindrical coordinates. It was shown that the behavior of the threshold
energy under study is different in these cases, and it was noted that the energy dependence on the radius
has a local minimum in the cases of a spherical particle and a particle whose contacting surface is
described by the equation z = Ar 4 and does not have such a minimum in the case of a cylinder. This
means that, when describing the erosion fracture process, it is very important to take into account the
specific characteristics of the model and avoid the incorrect use of some geometric shapes. It is also
necessary to continue the studies of the fracture threshold energy characteristics and perform a detailed
analysis of the process of passage to the limit from smooth shapes of the indentor (whose contact region
varies in the impact process) to the cylindrical shape.

REFERENCES
1. Yu. V. Petrov and A. A. Utkin, “On the Rate Dependence of Dynamic Fracture Toughness,” Sov. Mater. Sci.
25 (2), 153–156 (1989).
2. Yu. V. Petrov, “On the ‘Quantum’ Nature of Dynamic Fracture of Brittle Solids,” Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR
321 (1), 66–68 (1991) [Sov. Math. Dokl. (Engl. Transl.)].
3. Yu. V. Petrov, “Incubation Time Criterion and the Pulsed Strength of Continua: Fracture, Cavitation, and
Electrical Breakdown,” Dokl. Ross. Akad. Nauk 395 (5), 621–625 (2004) [Dokl. Phys. (Engl. Transl.) 49 (4),
246–248 (2004)].
4. Yu. Petrov and N. Morozov, “On the Modeling of Fracture of Brittle Solids,” Trans. ASME. J. Appl. Mech.
61 (3), 710–712 (1994).
5. Yu. V. Petrov, N. F. Morozov, and V. I. Smirnov, “Structural Macromechanics Approach in Dynamics of
Fracture,” Fat. Fract. Engng Mater. Struct. 26 (4), 363–372 (2003).
6. N. Morozov and Yu. Petrov, Dynamics of Fracture (Springer, Berlin–Heidelberg–New York, 2000).
7. N. F. Morozov and Yu. V. Petrov, Problems of Fracture of Solids (Izd-vo SPbGU, St. Petersburg, 1997).
8. V. I. Smirnov, “On the Effect of the Geometric Shape of Abrasive Particles on the Threshold Rate of Erosion,”
Probl. Prochn., No. 1, 69–78 (2007) [Strength of Materials (Engl. Transl.) 39 (1), 46–52 (2007)].
9. Yu. V. Petrov and V. I. Smirnov, “Interrelation between the Threshold Characteristics of Erosion and Spall
Fracture,” Zh. Tekhn. Fiz. 80 (2), 71–76 (2010) [Tech. Phys. (Engl. Transl.) 55 (2), 230–235 (2010)].
10. K. L. Johnson, Contact Mechanics (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1987; Mir, Moscow, 1989).
11. I. Ya. Shtaerman, Contact Problem of the Theory of Elasticity (Gostekhizdat, Moscow–Leningrad, 1949)
[in Russian].
12. Yu. V. Kolesnikov and E. M. Morosov, Mechanics of Contact Fracture (Nauka, Moscow, 1989) [in Russian].
13. G. A. Volkov, V. V. Zilbershmidt, V. I. Babitskii, et al., “Energy Aspects of Ultrasonic Intensification of
Treatment of Metals,” Dokl. Ross. Akad. Nauk 431 (4), 479–481 (2010) [Dokl. Phys. (Engl. Transl.) 55 (4),
184–185 (2010)].

MECHANICS OF SOLIDS Vol. 47 No. 5 2012